Frozen Fire
by Frozenheart49
Summary: inFAMOUS 2 from Kuo and Nix's point of view. Showing the story inFAMOUS 2 didn't show. T for language and such.
1. Prologue

*Prologue set after inFamous, and before inFamous 2, following the hero storyline, will probably follow Kuo more than Nix*

(inFAMOUS and inFAMOUS 2 belongs to Sucker Punch Productions)

-Kuo and Nix prologue

* * *

><p>Kuo's Prologue.<p>

Lucy Kuo. She was the same as everyone one else, or so she thought. Kuo possessed, unknowingly, a gene, unlike any other. Kuo became an agent of the NSA, and was teamed up with agent John White. The two had the same gene, which came to be known as the 'conduit gene.' These two were chosen to infiltrate an organization known as "The First Sons" due to an increase in activity, as the secret society had begun something big.

John was sent to Empire City, while Kuo went down South to New Marais. The two learned that the head of the First Sons, a man named Kessler, as well as a man named Sebastian Wolfe, began constructing a device called "the Ray Sphere" which would activate powers dormant in those who possess the conduit gene. In Empire City, Kessler began his plan, activating the Ray Sphere, killing thousands, except a certain few, one in particular…

Soon after the detonation, Kessler met his match, and was killed, putting the entire organization in ruin except in New Marais, where a man named Joseph Bertrand took control, and soon after taking over the First Sons, New Marais became infested monsters, and when he rallied a force to deal with these beasts, New Marais soon became his, it was obvious that New Marais need someone, it needed a hero, and only one man fit that description…

Nix's Prologue.

Deep within the swamp of New Marais, where those who lived such a poverty, that even those who are homeless were considered to be lucky, a young woman lived with her mother and four or five siblings, even with all the crazy and poor who lived in the same poverty as her, she didn't mind, the love from her mother was enough to keep her happy.

But, unfortunately for her, a man by the name of Bertrand took her family from her, killing the scum of New Marais, except, the blast which had taken her whole life from her, gave her the tools to build her a new life, and exact the revenge she so desperately craved.

She began to attack those who served the man who destroyed her life, becoming sadistic, allowing herself to give into the temptations of hurting anyone who get's in her way. She started to hate everyone, except for one man, a demon in fact, the Demon of Empire City, surely he would understand how she feels, to have the power to take what you want, to do as you please, surely he would, above all else understand her, to truly get her. If only he would come to New Marais, if only…

(I hope this is a good beginning for the story...)


	2. Kuo's Mission

(I own nothing)

Kuo's Mission

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><p>It was a warm morning in the city of New Marais, music can be heard even at the top of Kuo's hotel.<p>

She woke up early, just like she did every morning, but today, things were going to change, with the Militia taking over, it was obvious to her something needed to be done, she got dressed, putting on a black suit, fixing her hair, ate a quick breakfast and was on her way to Doctor Wolfe's lab.

When she got the roof where the lab was, she made quick glances to make sure no militia were watching her, she punched in the code to the door and went in, making sure the door was relocked when she entered.

"Good morning doctor Wolfe."

"Ah, Kuo, you've finally arrived."

"So? What's this big secret you've been keeping?"

"I've come close to building a machine that will help us defeat the threat looming before us."

"You mean 'The Beast'?"

"Exactly."

Wolfe shows her a blue sphere.

"This is the RFI, it drains conduit powers, with this, we can stop the beast."

"Wow…what's the catch?"

"You don't miss a beat, do you? Well, your correct, the catch is that it takes a lot of power, so much that it would take the whole power grid of New Marais to charge it, even partially…"

"Hm…What about Cole…?"

"The conduit who killed Kessler?"

"Mhm"

"Hm…I suppose he might be able to charge it, but not alone, he will need the power of blast cores…"

"Blast cores…?"

Showing her the purple rock of energy.

"Using these, the conduit powers can be greatly advanced."

"I see… Well Doctor, it looks like we have our plan-

She takes out a cell phone

-now to get our new 'friend.'"

She makes a call, and within hours she is off duty and on a plane to EmpireCity.

* * *

><p>(The next chapter will be probably be about Nix and what she's been doing before Cole arrived, Reviews are welcomed)<p> 


	3. Nix's Past

(I own nothing. This time you get Nix)

Nix's Past

* * *

><p>It had been an alright life, a hard life, but a life she could deal with. A young Nix lived deep in the bayou of New Marais with her family. It was hard, living with those deemed as trash, but as long as she had the love of her Mama, Nix was pleased with her life. She didn't like that everyone thought she was a worthless nobody, but she couldn't do anything, and her Mama made her feel special even among her rather large family, she was just fine with her life. But then, one day her family was taken away.<p>

Nix had come home to find the house she shared with her family was ransacked.

"Mama?"

She searched the house becoming more and more worried, until she heard a gunshot.

Following the shot, she was led to a clearing, men in orange armed with guns keeping everyone of the swamp in the clearing.

Nix scanned the heads, seeing known killers, psycho's, prostitutes, and a bunch of other people, until she saw her Mama.  
>She frantically got to where she could talk to her mother, she desperately wanted to save her her, but that's when she saw him.<p>

Bertrand.

He walked to the center of the clearing with a freaky device, he messed with it, for a moment, there was nothing.

Until it went off.

The device set off an explosion, all she could see was her beloved mother being eradicated.

When she woke, she had been changed, she looked among the ruin, hoping she had hallucinated, and that her Mama would be there to tell her everything would be okay.

But…she wasn't.

The only one other then Nix was Bertrand, he laughed manically as he left the swamp, and as for Nix, all she could do is cry, cry for he Mama, loosing the one person she loved, the only one who made her feel special.

She soon learned that the explosion that stole away her mother gave her powers, she swore to herself on that day she would not rest until she made Bertrand pay.

Casting off the life she knew, she looked to the city, and decided she could do whatever she wanted, no one there could stop her. She began to cause chaos in New Marais, enjoying every shriek she caused, savoring all the blood and pain, but until she killed Bertrand, she would never have her fill, she wouldn't be truly happy.

* * *

><p>(Poor Nix, you can't blame her for hating Bertrand, he murdered her mother, the jerk, r&amp;r please)<p> 


	4. Kuo's Entrance

Kuo's Entrance

* * *

><p>It was late noon when she arrived, the whole city stopped in awe, someone jumping into the hell-hole that was the quarantined Empire City was quite a shock, especially for the man who had worked his ass off trying to get everything to get it back on track.<p>

"Alright," Kuo sighed as she entered the city, "Let's find the 'Electric Man' of Empire City."

Cole's POV

*around the same time, Cole was patrolling, looking for any unfortunate souls who were still under Sasha's control, the Reapers, so far there was nothing.*

He received a call from his less then best friend.

"Anything?

"No, nothing yet, are you sure you heard the tip right?" Doubt flooded the sentence, Cole still wasn't sure if Zeke could be trusted.

"Man, I swear on my life I heard that there was a reaper courier going through there!" Feeling the sense of doubt over the phone, "I wouldn't lie to you…"

"Alright man, I'll look around a little, but…?"

The sound of someone coming put Cole in a state of warning, he hid behind a dumpster, to see a person in a red hoodie covered in tar run out, they search over the area, and hides the package once satisfied, they quickly leave the scene.

"Well, looks like the tip wasn't crap after all…" Cole quickly retrieves the package, it's a bomb, a tar bomb, obviously Sasha refuses to let her hold over the City die, even from the hole she is hiding out in, she'll keep trying to take the city, and Coles heart too.

He shivered at the thought.

"Anything good?" Asked the Zeke, desperate to know if he screwed himself any more.

"Just more tar," Disabling the bomb, "damn psycho's won't rest till the whole the city is drowning in it"

"Guess the… What the hell?" Cole could hear only muffled buzzing, he traced Zeke's cell and went to where he was, Archer Square.

When Cole reached the site, he saw a large group of people surrounding someone, begging the person to help them, but Cole couldn't see who this mysterious person was, until a gunshot dispersed the crowed.

Kuo's POV

The City had been cleaned up considerably from how John described it after the Blast, Kuo was able to get into the city without too much problem, but upon landing, she was swarmed by the people who had been in the area, begging her for food and clothing.

"Help us!" One cried,

"We're starving!" from another,

"We are all dying!" cried another in the mob of pity.

"I'm sorry, I need to find someone!" She tried pushing her way through the mob, but it was no use, she was trapped in a circle of sadness that she could do nothing about, she felt awful that she couldn't help those who were dying right in front of her, but she had to find Cole.

She had to get out of the circle.

She had no choice.

She reached for her gun and shot one shot into the air…

The crowed fled, memories of the death still fresh in their minds.

"I'm so sorry…"

That's when she saw him, the man she came to find, there stood Cole MacGrath.


	5. Nix's Pet

Nix's Pet

* * *

><p>(As usual, I own nothing, sort of a spoiler for late in the game, but why are you reading this if you haven't already played the game?)<p>

It's been a few months after Nix gained her powers and lost her family, she changed her look drastically, and has slowly learned how to control her powers. She stays where she and her family had lived her whole life, her whole old life.

She awoke to the sound of a speed runner (or they call the boats with the big fans on the back)

"Hell, don't these guys rest?" she said as she got to her feet.

"Ah well, I ain't the kind to sleep all day, and an ass kicking is just the thing to start the day."

She silently followed the runner past her edge of the swamp, and followed them into the remains of Bellview, which is now called Flood Town, anyone who was still there were well hidden, trying to stay out of the view of the deviant searching Militia.

'_**The hell they doin way out here?' **_Nix thought to herself.

They quickly make it to the train yard, Nix can hear it, the cries for help, she looks around, and finds citizens locked in box cars. Nix couldn't help but laugh.

"Ha! Look at all you, you all thought I was trash, that I was an animal, well look now, whose caged up like a animal now?" She was going to continue to insult the caged citizens, when she spotted a man she knew all to well and hated come walking down with his bodyguards. They select a few citizens and take them to a warehouse.

"What's this? An execution, 'bout damn time something real good happened" She teleported to where could see, and watched in amazement and shock as the three sent into the warehouse, were transformed into ugly, disfigured monsters, the same monters which had recently taken residence in her swamp. The three were carted off, and returned to their cage.

After everyone had gone, Nix decided to investigate.

She decided to check out the citizens who were now beasts.

"Well well, ain't this karma, you thought I was a monster, now look at you, you the real monsters now."

They could only snarl and growl at her as she walked around, looking for anything else of interest.

But there was none.

She thought to herself, _'__**I know whose making these things, I could tell the people, but what the hell did they ever do for me other then treat me like I was shit? Nah, they can suffer' **_she was about to release them when the sound of footsteps causes her to teleport out of sight, and who else then Bertrand comes waltzing out like he owns the whole world, he followed by two more guards, they make their way to the box car Nix was just at.

"Make sure we don't have any one observing our little show."

"Sir"

"Sir"

The two guards hurry off, leaving Bertrand, Nix, and the corrupted. Bertrand approaches the cage, knowing full well he was safe.

"Don't be so sore with me…" He said, "I'm only doing what you all wanted, to rid the world of the freaks, your sacrifices will help"

The corrupted could only snarl at the explanation, while still trying to locate the quickest way out of their confinement, and to be able to rip the man who did this to them to shreds.

"_**The hell is he doin? They ain't gonna listen, they monsters now…"**_ Nix thought from her hiding spot.

Bertrand stayed for half an hour at least as far as Nix could tell, filling the empty heads of the creatures with his ideals, they calmed down after awhile, and once their rage subsided, Bertrand left, leaving a confused Nix and supposedly tamed monsters.

She left her hideaway and approached the cage, the corrupted became rabid at the sight of her, and they once again looking for the quickest way to the woman standing before them.

"The hell he do to ya…?" She couldn't come up with an answer, so she decided to leave, still trying to figure out how such monsters were tamed.

She snuck into the train yard, day after day, to see what Bertrand was up to, she quickly learned his secret, he created the monsters, and set them loose for his own agenda. This was too good, she could ruin the man, and turn the whole town against him, but she had a better idea, she could make a connection with the corrupted herself, and make them hers, Bertrand only made the rounds to tame them at night.

So the next time Bertrand corrupted someone, after the crew left, she set to work.

"Okay, it took him at least ten minutes to tame them, I gotta do it before the Militia find me, can't risk the chance of them shooting my ass before I'm done."

Getting into the cage holding a single, low level corrupted, she began to connect.

"_Hey there baby, aren't you a cute one?" _she said, trying to win the rabid beast. _'You don't like this here cage, do ya? Can't blame ya, never been fond of cages myself"_ she called, trying to tame the beast.

_It was working, the corrupted was warming up to her, and in a few minutes, the creature was bound to her, her scent, her look, he belonged to her now._

The duo leave, returning to Nix's home, the monster quickly adjusted to it's new home, and listen to Nix without question. They caused chaos for the next few days, destroying the Militia camps, attacking towns folk, but Bertrand would not stand for such an outrage, he sent an small army into the swamp.

* * *

><p>They hit fast, and hard, they surrounded Nix's home, and began to shoot it up, destroying the little shack that it was. Nix and her pet were able to escape, but the waiting army reloaded, and began to shoot the hailstorm of hell, bullets flying, aiming to kill<p>

Nix decided that the best course of action was to flee, but during the escape attempt, a wayward bullet had hit her in the leg.

"Damnit!" She cried, shocked she had been hit, she stumbled away, unable to teleport due to damage to her leg. The Militia caught up in a matter of moments, surrounding her, aiming, preparing to kill the Swamp Witch.

But... the corrupted saved her.

It took every single bullet intended for her, sacrificing itself for her.

It slumped over in pool of it's own blood.

"No..." She dragged herself to the beast.

"C'mon...get up... Get up..." She shook the creature, trying to wake it.

"Wake...up...wake up...please! Wake up!" She was on the verge of tears when she knew it was no use.

There were a few snickers from the army as they reloaded another round of ammo.

The anger and sadness Nix felt was impossible to imagine, on par with the loss of her family. The rage and hatred inside of her burned hotter then the fires of Hell, and she unleashed that hellfire upon the Militia. She burned the bodies to ash, making the land black with her fire and hate.

She knew what she had to do. Petty things like havoc and attacks weren't enough. She would kill Bertrand, and she will rip his body to pieces with her bare hands if she had to.

_She shed her final tears, she turned, and left her pet, her friend, and let her hatred burn free and dark…_

* * *

><p>(I apologize for the long pause)<p> 


	6. Kuo's Plan

Kuo's Plan

(Nothing other then the idea's in use at the moment belong to me)

* * *

><p>Cole could only stare at this woman, whom he had never seen before in his life, as she calmly walked up to him.<p>

"Cole MacGrath I presume?"

"Maybe, who wants to know?"

"Cole! COLE!" comes from Zeke as he runs up to join them

"Whew…damn man, there is some crazy shit and gun shots going on here, and some hot woman from a plane."

He looks and see's Kuo, taking a minute to realize she was the woman he heard about.

"Damn…" examining her…quite thoroughly…too thoroughly for her tastes.

Kuo was very uncomfortable around this man, she read about him in Cole's file

Zeke, Jedediah Dunbar.

Male.

Close friend of Cole.

No job

Confirmed Non-Conduit.

She knew she'd have to befriend him to make sure Cole came with her, the thought made her skin crawl.

"How the hell are you still so fat with so little food? You gotta stash hidden?"

"Course not brother" Zeke panted "Just ain't much for running…"

Kuo cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Good afternoon gentlemen. My name is Kuo, Lucy Kuo."

She explained carefully to make sure she didn't miss anything.

She explained that Wolfe could help Cole gain powers to defeat the beast.

Cole thought, taking the idea in.

"I don't know… I'm pretty strong right now…and honestly, I'd rather stay put."

"But…" Kuo couldn't think of any good reason to try to convince him.

"Can I think about it? I'll give you an answer for sure tomorrow, but right now, I need time to think." He didn't wait for her answer, he left before she could say anything. Zeke leaving after him.

After an hour or two of wandering around the city which once use to have thousands which has been reduced to mere hundreds, Kuo didn't want to wait. She didn't want to, but she knew what she had to do. She went to a shop that was still in business and bought a dress which would leave very little to imagination.

"Fine. Men suck when it comes to thinking with their brains anyway. I'll just have to make him think with his body." She felt disgusted, but she was running out of time.

*8:30 PM, Zeke's roof*

Zeke sat there by himself, watching TV, Cole had just left to go to the park in the Historic District, when a knock came to the door.

"Come on in, it isn't locked."

Kuo waltzed in, the dress laying on her body perfectly, hugging her curves very tightly.

"Damn…" Zeke's jaw drop

"I'm here for Cole…" Not enjoying having to going down so far as to wear such a outfit to get what had to convince Cole.

"Well uh…he left…but if you want…we could-"

"Left? Where did he go?"

"To the park in the Historic, now as I was saying we can-huh?"

She was already gone, running to get over to the park, she tried to stay focus and not notice the people who looked at her as she ran by, she ran surprisingly fast, able to get over to the bridge in a matter of minutes.

She cursed when she saw the bridge was down, but relentless, she used the garbage to make her way across the river, without getting a drop of water on her. She ran to park, but was shocked to see what was there.

Graves.

The park was a cemetery. A gravesite for those who died in the blast. She glance around and found Cole, kneeling by some ones grave, she made her way over, keeping as quiet as she could, and listen to what he was saying.

"Hey Trish…it's me…I… I met some one today...Kuo… She asked me to leave… She wants me to go down to New Marais…" He was on the verge of tears as he talked, after a half an hour reasoning to the grave, Cole came to a silent conclusion, he stood to leave, Kuo hid herself, and Cole left.

She walked over to the grave, she looked to find a picture of a lovely woman.

"Who…? She thought

"Trish Dailey." Came in pants from a very exhausted Zeke.

"Who's she?" Positive she had never heard her name before.

"Well, she was Cole's girlfriend. She was murdered by Kessler.

He went over the details the best he could, so Kuo could get the full impact of the heartbreak Cole went through because of Kessler.

"…she died, loving the man who tried to save Empire…" Unable to keep the tears of from falling.

Kuo stood their for a minute, un-able to think, and she took off again crying, she ran to the nearest pier, and dropped to her knees and cried,

"Oh God...I:m disgusting...I'm a slut... A _whore_!" The words burned her tongue. She screamed and cried, and hated herself. She was disgusted and sick to her stomach. She couldn't stop. She hated herself for almost trying to seduce Cole, even with Trish's death still so fresh. In the very place her body rested.

She cried until threw up. Eventually, she composed herself the best she could, and returned to the hotel she was at with as much dignity she could muster. She changed and tore the dress up, she never wanted to see it again, she tried to go to sleep, but only got a few hours. She went to Zeke's to get Cole's answer when she finally gave up on trying to sleep.

* * *

><p>It was a bright morning, Cole and Zeke were watching TV when she came up.<p>

"Hey…" She still felt disgusted, confronting Cole, she felt like she danced on Trish's grave, and cursed her dead spirit, even though nothing like that happened.

"Morning Kuo, I have my decision."

"I understand-" Feeling broke like she had mocked Trish's death.

"I want to go."

"It's alright, I- What?"

She was shocked her decided to leave his lost love, but he explained that he was too weak to stop Kessler from hurting the ones he cared about, he wouldn't let it happen again. Kuo understood, and called in favors, she got them ready to leave Empire and go to New Marais, but when the time came to leave…

Fate had different plans…

The Beast attacked…


	7. The Beast's Attack

The Beast's Attack

* * *

><p>The boats arrived only a day after Kuo's request. The citizens of Empire were relieved to finally leave the hell hole their home had become. Even with all the help Cole put in, destroying the remains of the Dust Men, wiping Kessler and the first sons out of the city, keeping Sasha's tar clear of systems, all these had tremendously helped Empire City get back on it's feet, but there was still that lingering sorrow and anger, the hate still there, hidden in the shadows. Putting Empire behind them is what these people needed to move on with their life. Amazingly hundreds still stayed, unwilling to leave their homes, despite the events of only a weeks prior.<p>

Cole and Zeke stand on the boat, looking out at their home, thinking about all the fun, all the disasters, and all the sadness they found here,

"I'm sure gonna miss this place. Hell or not, it's still home." Zeke commented.

"You sound like we're not coming back." Cole laughed

"Huh?"

"This will only be a short trip. We're going to see Wolfe, come back, and kick the Beasts ass."

Zeke could only laugh.

"Your one hell of an optimist, you know that?"

"Hey, with my powers, I can do a lot more then other people can."

"True…"

Kuo joins them, still feeling slightly nauseous when ever she looks at Cole from her guilt.

"Hello boys…"

"Hey, Kuo" "Kuo" The two say when their 'savior' joins them.

She jumps straight into her agent mind setting, forgetting the nausea.

"Alright. So here's the plan-"

"Whoa, whoa, Kuo, we aren't ready for plan's. When we get there, we're gonna relax. Have a few beers. Meet a few hot chicks. Hell, enjoy some southern hospitality." Zeke points out to her.

"What? What are you talking about? We have to go and get Cole the powers to stop the Beast."

Worry was filling her voice.

"Don't worry, It'll all be done and we'll be back long before the Big Bad Beast get's here."

"But…"

"Not that I want to agree that we should party instead of training, but after all the shit we've been through, a little relaxation doesn't sound like a bad idea." Cole points out.

Kuo sighed, obviously outvoted. "Alright, but please…just don't waste too much time…"

"Don't worry, Kuo" Cole began. "Everything will be oka-"

Cole was cut off by the ship shaking.

"The hell…?"

Screams fill the air, panic replaces the joy, smoke fills the sky. Everyone turns to see it coming from Empire City.

"I'm going to check this out…" And with that, he was off, over the railing and on the dock before Kuo could object.

The dock shook, there are more screams, Cole follows them to find the gate locked tight, a single electrical bolt sets the caged citizens free.

"The hell's going on?" Something hit's the ship docked to his left, people fall, the ship goes under, destruction continues, more people run pass, fleeing for their lives.

In the distance, there stood a giant. A man of magma. A harbinger of destruction. The embodiment of chaos.

There stood _The Beast_

Cole was dumbfounded. He knew the Beast would be destructive, Kessler showed him that, but the magnitude of it was unthinkable. Half the city lay in destruction, not even 5 minutes ago everything was fine.

"Hey!" Cole yelled, shooting the Beast with a few bolts. "Over here!"

From the first bolt the Beast focused all of it's attention on Cole, and was over to him and stunning speed.

"Yeah, you. I know about you, I'm ready!" Shooting bolt after bolt, throwing a grenade after another, firing a rocket, trying to take the menace down.

It took a lot less for the Beast to make twice as much damage. It threw large balls of fire and magma, created distortions in the air, but with every hit of Cole's power, it's body fell apart.

"Hurry up Cole, I can't keep this ship docked much longer!" Came a concerned Kuo over the phone.

"I am trying!"

After shooting another bolt, the beast went down, swallowed by the water.

"Hurry up Brother!"

Cole wasted no time, he ran down the pier, jumping over debris, he made it back to the ship, but just as he was about to jump to safety, a distortion grabbed him back into the Beast's grasp.

Cole unleashed all the power he had.

He put every ounce of his being and power into a final Lightning ionic used all the power he had.

But…

It wasn't enough…

Kuo and Zeke got Cole's body back on the ship and they left. They could only stare in horror as the Beast reformed, and destroyed.

When Cole woke up, he soon learned of this. He could only watch as his beloved Empire City was destroyed before him, again.

Kuo kept to her priorities, thinking that she might be able to right this wrong, and Zeke… He did all he could to win back Cole's trust. The two worked, and made Cole the Amp, but mostly everyone was quiet, and kept to themselves. Trying to let it sink in that Empire City was dead.

Cole's resolve was already firm from Kessler's interferen, but now, it was solid as steel. He swore he'd kill the Beast, for everyone in Empire when the beast attacked, for every killed in the Blast, for himself, for Kuo, for Zeke, for Trish, and even for Kessler's. For everyone's sake.

He will become stronger.

And he will kill The Beast.

* * *

><p>(Now into the actual story of inFAMOUS 2. How was the start? Did it meet expectations or disappoint?)<p> 


	8. New Marais

New Marais

The ship the three took went along the East Coast, was too large to maneuver with in the swamp, so the three took a smaller boat to go deeper, they would go into New Marais through the swamp, while the evacuation ship went to a safer location.

They made their way in with little problem.

Cole stood at the front of the boat, bored from the lack of anything to do. Zeke has to pilot the ship, they have surprisingly made it without hitting anything. Kuo keeps to herself, trying to avoid him for some odd reason.

"-sigh-"

"Bored?" Kuo making one of her rare appearances.

"Oh? Finally want to talk to me?"

She shifts uncomfortably because she knows he notices how she tries to avoid him.

"For someone who needed my help so badly, you don't seem to keen on me being around."

"I…sorry…" She hasn't quite let go of what happened.

"I have simply had a lot on my mind lately."

"Yeah well…there's a lot of that going around…"

They stood in silence for a few minutes until Cole broke in.

"So what can you tell me about New Marais? It's been awhile since I've been there."

"Well, since the blast in Empire, a man by the name of Bertrand took over. He formed the Militia, a group of trigger happy hunters. They 'protect' the town from those deemed as freaks."

"Is that so…"

Before Kuo could go on, she noticed something, _Militia towers._

"Zeke! Cut the engine!"

He did as he was told and the vessel came to a stop.

"What's up?" He calls down.

"Militia camps" She points them out "if we get any closer they'll sink us."

"That doesn't sound pleasant, so I'll just go in, take them all out, so the boat can get in, easy."

He was about to jump out when Zeke ran out carrying the Amp.

"Wait Brother, I got you a new toy." He hands over the tool.

"There she is, a real beauty if I say so myself, call The Amp"

"Thanks Zeke."

With that, he was gone. Gunshots and grenades could be heard in the distance.

With Coles exit, Kuo and Zeke were alone for the first time since the Historic cemetery.

"So…Kuo…" Zeke started off."Did you tell him?"

"Nah, he didn't need to know."

"Thank you…" She sighed with relief, she was glad Zeke wasn't quite as disgusting as she thought he was.

"Look, Cole's been through a lot, after Trish was killed, he's been real hard on himself, I screwed him over pretty hard too, but since you came, he is starting to act like his old self again, so I'm the one who should be thanking you."

"No…you don't…"

"You know…I pretty sure he thinks your kinda cute" Zeke added with a chuckle as he returned to the wheel.

She let out an annoyed sigh, she was strictly business, but then again, she couldn't help feel…

No.

She couldn't let her get attached.

* * *

><p>Cole called soon after, telling them he's at the bridge into a village, but it's raised<p>

"There should be a generator." Kuo said, looking at the map of the area.

"I see it."

"Good, shoot it. But be careful, you could blow it up."

"Got it."

"You know brother…" Zeke added. "If that thing went off, it probably could smoke out any Militia hiding out."

Cole considered this as he shot the generator.

Nothing…

A bolt fires from Cole's hand.

Charging…

Another bolt.

Green light flickers on…

Cole thought, shooting more power, as the yellow light started to activate, getting bright…and brighter…

"Just a little more..." The light was in dangerously close to turning red.

Cole stopped.

Although the Militia might get blown sky high, so would all the people living there. He decided to go in and take the militia out old fashion style. It didn't take long to wipe them out.

He continued along, he hears gunshots to his left, behind a building, though they weren't directed at him. He climbed up the building to find a group of three militia, dead, the are facing towards the swamp, away from Cole. While focusing on the dead, he catches a wisp of smoke out of the corner of his eyes, he follows it to find another wisp leading deeper into the swamp, it's gone before he can even attempt to follow it.

"Hm…"

He continued along, wiping out the Militia, when New Marais was in sight, he let the others know the coast was clear, while he waited, he reminisced about the last time he was in this beautiful town.

* * *

><p>It didn't take Zeke and Kuo long to reach town.<p>

"Get the boat out of here at the first sign of trouble, got it Zeke?" Kuo said as she got off the boat.

"Aye aye super spy." He replied with a chuckle.

"Well Kuo, you know the way." Cole said with discomfort, he'd taken a few too many bullets on the way over.

"What's wrong?"

"Got a little too careless in the village. Took a few more shots then I cared too."

"Oh? If you blew up the generator that probably would have cut that down some."

"Yeah, and torch families too, I'm not gonna start blowing innocent people up to make my life easier."

"Good answer." She felt proud he put others before himself.

"Well then, time to go meet the good doctor."

The two made their way into town, to meet with Wolfe.


	9. Dr Sebastian Wolfe

Dr. Sebastian Wolfe

Wolfe's POV

The day was hot, as it usually was, the days seemed the same, so much that you could blend them together and wouldn't be able to tell what was yesterday and what tomorrow would today, was special

Today was the day all of his and Kuo's planning would come to light.

He had kept Bertrand in the dark about his motives, and after today, he would never have to work for that extorting man- could he even be called anymore? After all, Wolfe knew what occurred in the swamp and what was created there…

But none of that mattered now, the answer to all of his worries was only a few hours away-

"GET OUT HERE OLD MAN!"

It was the Militia, Bertrand's goons, they started doing regular check ups on Wolfe."Go away, I'm working on something very important right now!"

He tried to get them to leave, they argued for twenty minutes when a new voice came.

"Doctor, your going back on your word."

Bertrand.

"Damn it…" He mumbled. "No I'm not, I just need a little more time"

"One hour, you hear me doctor? One, hour."

Bertrand and the Militia left.

For now.

* * *

><p>Wolfe hurried to the audio recorder he had, time was running out, setting everything up took his whole hour, and they returned. He called Kuo, he got word from her when they arrived.<p>

"Kuo, the militia are back, they're trying to force the door to my lab."

"Listen Wolfe, I'm on my way, MacGrath, your on your own-" Kuo's signal was cut.

"Hurry Kuo…"

Wolfe had to do something, waiting for the Militia to break his door down wasn't helping.

"Audio Report: Final. Door won't open. Done what I could to reverse the damage I unleashed on the world. After Bertrand took control of the First Sons, I chose to stay on and I committed further acts of horror under his twisted leadership. His resources allowed me to finish the RFI, that is all the matters. My God I hope it works…I hope it exceeds my wildest expectations and ends the plague-" The door bursts opens "-forgive me Kuo, I wish I could have warned you!"

The Militia quickly tore their way to Wolfe, he tried resist, but the were to strong.

They were rounding up everything that look valuable and getting ready to take Wolfe back to their interrogation building when he got a phone call.

"Kuo, Wolfe, I got it, still at the lab?"

"'MacGrath…the shard…their…oh God…"

The whole city of New Marais saw and heard it.

The lab had exploded, gone up in flames.

Everything was hazy, Wolfe could make out the sound of gunshots, getting closer, but he couldn't think, couldn't move…_he couldn't move. _He realized that he was pinned under ruble, _"I guess I won't be making it after all…" _everything started getting darker…darker….darker…..

"Wolfe?" Cole called.

The sound of Cole brought Wolfe back, reinvigorated with hope.

"MacGrath…" He coughed.

"Dr. Wolfe." Cole helped him out.

:Good to see you…you look just like him…"

"Like who?"

"Kessler."

"Oh…him"

"Yes…we were friends in the beginning… he said he had great plans for you Cole."

"Yeah, I'm sure…anyway, here's the Blast Core Kuo told me to grab."

"Ah, wonderful."

"What's it used for?"

"Simple, to power this." He grabbed the RFI.

"A Raysphere?" Alarm in his voice.

"No, no, it's a Rayfield Inhibitor, I call it the RFI, with it, we can defeat the beast.

"And these?" showing the glowing rock.

"The power source, the RFI requires a lot of power to use, and only a conduit who is at their strongest can even think about charging it."

"Really?"

"It can evolve powers far past their limits, with that, you could power the RFI, and defeat the beast."

"Enough of the pep talk old man, let's do this."

Cole let all of his power flood the stone, and in turn, power flooded Cole.

So much, that he passed out.

Taking a few breaths in, Wolfe was looking around the remains of his lab.

"-sigh- I hope it was worth it…"

"There he is!"

The Militia had hidden away and came to reclaim Wolfe, they grab him and start dragging him off the roof, gunshots made them stop.

"Hey boys," came the exhausted Kuo. "I'm going to have to ask you to put him down now/" They were in a gun fight, Kuo was able to doge every bullet masterfully, but slowly more and more Militia started showing up, fortunately, they focused more on Wolfe then Kuo, and Zeke came to help too.

"Kuo!" Wolfe yelled when they started pushing him down the fire escape.

"Shit…Zeke, keep them occupied!"

She ran down hoping to cut them off, but they were off the escape and making a run for it. Zeke continued to shoot at the retreating Militia.

"Yeah bitches! Run. Ha!" Zeke was very proud he was able to help a little this time and hopefully Kuo could get Wolfe back too.

Coughing caught Zeke's attention.

"Zeke -cough cough-"

"Cole? What did the old man slip you a roofie"

"Nah, but I feel…powerful."

"Really? Show me what you got."

Cole tried to use whatever her felt, and to his surprise, a field of energy surrounded him, and in it, all of the objects started to rise. With a flick of his hands, all the junk went flying, some blew up.

"Damn, didn't know you could do that."

"I can now."


	10. Kuo's Hunt

Kuo's Hunt

The Militia had come with a plan, and even after the explosion and Cole, they were able to use it. When Kuo reached the ground, she saw the Militia throw Wolfe in a pick up truck, and when jumped in, it took off.

"Wolfe!" She screamed while shooting at the truck.

But it was too late, the truck was gone. She ran as fast as she could to try to find it before it hade gotten away, but they were gone.

"Damn" She sighed.

Cole called her after he tested out his new powers.

"Hey Kuo, any luck?"

"No, I lost the guys with Wolfe, but I'll find them. So what did Wolfe say about the Blast Core?"

"They'll power me up enough to use the RFI, but that was it."

"Really? Would Rayacite fragments help too? Wolfe had a large collection, but it was blown sky high with the lab."

"Raya-what?"

"The radiated shards of earth from Ray Sphere testing? Wolfe said you'd know what to do with them. They glow blue?"

"Oh! We just call them blast shards. Found quite a few in Empire, I got this."

A weird sound buzzed over the phone

"What was that?" Kuo was startled.

"Ugh…I absorb them into my body, they let me hold more energy."

"Well there should be quite a few, collecting as many as you can wouldn't hurt."

"Guess not, hey look, Zeke's trying to get through, go look for Wolfe, good luck." He hung out without even waiting for her answer.

You too…"

She searched talked to every one she saw, but every time she got "No, sorry," or "I didn't see anything." She was losing hope. She went through and every one of her old contacts, but nothing lead to Wolfe, only the dead or members of the Militia.

However, she did hear Cole's name more and more as she searched, saving people from the Militia, healing the injured. She was glad that he wasn't a power hungry monster as those who are given power usual end up as.

"Hey Cole, I keep hearing your name around town. At this rate, you'll be known everywhere, people will be asking for help everywhere you go."

"Well that's better then be known as an demon, right?"

"Yeah, well I'm glad your making headway, because I'm finding nothing. However, there is one lead. Bertrand will be an appearance-

"Bertrand?" Zeke questioned.

"The leader of the Militia, Joseph Bertrand. He will be at a press conference, if we can get to him, we will hopefully lead us to Wolfe."

"What time?" asked Cole

"Two hours."

"Alright, Kuo, keep working on finding other leads if this doesn't fall though, Zeke and I will handle Bertrand."

"See you there Brother." Zeke hung up.

"Be careful Cole." With that, Kuo hung up.

The night of the conference, the corrupted attacked, they weren't enough to take out Cole, but they gave Bertrand the chance to get away.

There only lead. Gone. Kuo was distraught, she really hoped that Bertrand would lead them to Wolfe.

She was looking up everything about the Militia she could find, and fortunately for her, she found something, the interrogator for the Militia.

He was a lot easier to find then Wolfe, thanks to a few bartenders and gamblers, she knew exactly when and where he would be.

Finding him was easy enough, but now Kuo had to wait.

"One please." She said taking her seat at the bar while waiting. He didn't seem to be winning, so hopefully she wouldn't have to wait too long.

Unfortunately his luck changed in Black Jack, and he started winning interrogator won over four hundred dollars in the hour he was playing, and Kuo had gone through 3 drinks.

"-sigh- When will he finished?"

"Hey there beautiful." Came a cocky voice.

Kuo turned to find the interrogator close to her, too close.

"Excuse me?"

"Just wondering what your name was gorgeous." His breath was smelled like alcohol.

"Uh…Stacy…"

"Stacy huh? Can I by you a drink or two dear?" He starts getting closer to her.

It took all of her strength to not gag right there.

"No, I have to be leaving-" He grabbed her wrist.

"Surely you wouldn't mind one little-"

"Goodbye." She got out of his grasp and left the bar.

"Disgusting…"

She called Cole.

"Hey, I picked up another lead, the interrogator for the Militia, he's winning pretty big at Black Jack, but he should be going to visit Wolfe soon. I would follow him, but he just hit on me…"

"No problem, I follow him from the rooftops, no one ever looks up."

"Okay, good…I have a good feeling about this one. I'll go…appropriate a vehicle.

The plan was set, Wolfe was almost in their grasp, but Bertrand wasn't ready to give up Wolfe just yet…

* * *

><p>It took about three hours, but the interrogator finally had his fill, he left the casino,nwith Cole tailing him.<p>

"Alright Kuo, I'm on his trail, how are we gonna get Wolfe out?"

"Well, I am going to...'appropriate' a vehicle for our use."

"Isn't that stealing Miss agent Kuo?"

"Well...do you want to save Wolfe of not?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. the it's the tan house on 18th"

"Really? There are roadblocks...can you take them down while I get Wolfe?"

"As you command special agent thievery."Cole said in a joking tone.

Kuo sighed as she hung up.

* * *

><p>She made it up to the house without any problem, Cole was still dealing with the fist roadblock, but it was the perfect distraction to get into the house.<p>

It was deserted, Cole had taken all of the attention, but Kuo wasn't going to taker any chances. It looked like a normal house, very filthy, but normal. However things often are more then they appear, she carefully opened every door, making sure that there were no Militia hiding out, fortunately, it was empty, unfortunately, that meant no Wolfe.

"A dead end, damn it." She felt so defeated. Outsmarted by Bertrand again.

She was so frustrated, she could scream, but instead she shot up a poster of Militia propaganda.

"I wish shooting things could solve all of my problems." She said with a sigh.

He pleas were apparently heard, as a hidden door revealing a staircase opened in the wall, she looked back to see that the poster hid a secret switch.

"About time things started going my way."

She descended into the darkness, the staircase eventually came to an end, Kuo couldn't see much, but a ray of light showed there was a door.

She wasted no time, as she opened the door, the earth shook, but only for an moment. "_That was odd..._" She thought to herself.

Back on task, she entered the room, there were two rooms, she could see from the two sided mirror that Wolfe was bound to a table, he looked drain, emotionally and physically. She was able to break the door down.

"Kuo..." said the exhausted doctor.

"Don't worry, Wolfe, your same now." She said as she freed him from his restraints.

"Thank you..."

They quickly returned to the surface, but as soon as the stepped foot out of the building, an alarm went off.

"Cole, I've got Wolfe, but we set off an alarm on the way out, get to the truck." She called.

"On my way."

Cole hopped in the back, there was a small generator, Kuo was obviously prepared in case this happened.

"Hey Doc, good to see you in one piece."

"Yes...more or less-" an explosion cut him off.

"Hold on Cole!" Kuo took off, the last thing on her mind was safety, the first was getting Wolfe to safety.

Explosions and gunshots surrounded the truck, but Kuo was able to stay focused in spite off all of the chaos. She was forced to take a lot of turns, and eventually ended up right back where they started.

"Hey Kuo, we didn't get very far."

"I see that Cole."

The three of them saw it at the same time.

An armored truck.

It didn't have Militia goons shooting at them.

It wasn't trying to block it's their pass.

It had one reason, one job, one thing to do.

Ram them

Time seemed to stop for all 3 of them.

**Cole's POV**

_"They really don't want to lose Wolfe..."_

**Wolfe's POV**

_"I'm going to die now...I've done all I can here...but it wasn't enough...I'm so sorry..."_

**Kuo's POV**

_"After all that...we lost?"_

Time rushed forward, as did the vehicles.

"No, no, no, NO!" was all Kuo could scream as the two smashed together, and they went flying...


	11. Kuo's Capture

Kuo's Capture

Everything was hazy to Kuo. The last she remembered was the armored truck ramming her. She should be upside down in the truck, dead…but instead she was…in a bed?

She sat up and looked around. She was in a bed. She was in a empty room, she recognized it, it was one of the rooms she had searched for Wolfe in.

"How did I…?" She looked around for her phone, she needed to contact Cole, she needed to get out-

The door opened with a loud creak. And in strolled a powerful man.

"Well well, looks like our "guest" finally decided to wake up."

"Bertrand I presume?"

"The one and only."

She knew that this man was to blame for everything that has happened to New Marais, that he was the reason Wolfe is probably dead somewhere now, but what could he possible want with her?

"What do you want with me."

"Your quite inpatient, aren't you? Don't worry, all in good time my dear, all in good time…you know you and your friend Mr. MacGrath have been causing me a whole lot of problems these last few days."

"Yeah, your point is? Are you going to torture me like you did Wolfe?"

"Calm down my dear. Yes, the mess with Wolfe was rather...ugly, but I don't have any need to do anything of that nature to a woman like you."

"Is that your sad excuse of chivalry? Not torturing me?"

"Your know, you kind of rude Ms. Kuo. After all, here I am offering you my hospitality, and you don't seem very grateful, would you like to see what Dr. Wolfe went through in his short time here?"

"…" She didn't want to admit that she really didn't want to know what happened to Wolfe

"I thought not. Now, would you like anything?"

He was up to something, but she couldn't tell what yet.

"Well, maybe my phone, so I could call Cole, or how about this: I'd like to leave."

"Leave? But you just got here, why don't you stay for a little while, I've got something planned for you."

"Oh? What's that?"

"You'll see my dear, you'll see, but for now, just relax and sleep, you've got a busy day ahead of you."

With his ominous threat in place he left. Before Kuo could start to decipher it, the room filled with gas, and Kuo was put out, she can rest and try to forget the horrors she endured…and prepare for the ones she'll meet in a few short hours…


	12. Nix's New Friend

Nix's New Friend

It had been a little over two weeks since she had lost her friend to the Militia. Since the untimely demise of the corrupted, Nix had taken to attacking the Militia where they live. Instead of bases, she went after wives and children. Either way she wanted to make them suffer. She decided to attack out in the bayou, where the poor and relatives had been intermixed for safety reasons.

Fools.

Nix didn't care if they were the guiltiest human on earth or as innocent as a young girl with a puppy. She wanted tears and hatred.

She began at the edge, where the Militia was more spread out and had more civilians.

Oil and fire flooded the island, people, Militia and others lied dead burning at her feet, all of them, dead. Or so she though.

Until she heard a baby crying.

"The hell? How did some baby survive?" She said as she teleported to investigate.

Her answer wasn't that one baby had lived, she found that a baby, a woman, and a young girl survived. The mother was injured, she suffered from rather severe burns across one of her legs.

The young child was the first to notice Nix, she was at least 6 or 7.

"M-Mama…who is that?" She asked, holding the baby in one arm; probably her younger sibling, and a little pudgy doll in the other.

The woman looked up was at a loss of words, but she knew Nix was the one who was behind this.

"Sweetie…" She started. "Take your brother and get out of here."

"B-But Mama, your hurt real bad"

Nix gestured and oil raised up, grabbing the mother and held her above the ground.

"G-go…" She said, losing her breath fighting against the oil.

Nix raised her hand with flint metal claws; perfect to start fires, as she closed in on the woman.

"Mama!" the girl cried, she didn't realize that Nix was the one who held her mothers life, she ran her, the one about to end her mothers life.

"Please! Help our Mama! We love her please! She's all we got! I might not listen but I love her! Please help!" She cried, begging Nix to spare the woman.

For a second a sliver of Nix and her own childhood, as well as the incident a few weeks ago flashed before her eyes.

She lurched back, sorrow filling her heart and eyes again.

For a second the kind and sweet girl Nix used to be showed itself, and the woman was freed, the oil leaving her alive.

"Go…" She was torn between the love she had loss, and the lust for bloodshed and revenge she felt.

"M-Mama?" She hurried to her mothers side as she coughed and gasped for air.

Not fully sure what happened, the girl was pleased her mother was alive.

"Did you help us miss? Thanks you."

Her mother called her back, "Come back…we need to…to leave…" She said betweeen gasps.

"But I needs to thank her, she saved ya, didn't she?" She turned back to Nix.

"You should listen to your Mama kid…it's dangerous here…"

"I know…here" She said. She held out the pudgy doll.

Nix took confused, she took it, but didn't understand why, an explosion a little far out took Nix out of thought.

"Go." She said, but the girl remained.

"You need to come with us!" The young child said, but another explosion distracted Nix for a second, she returned to her darker side.

"GO!" She screamed at the girl, who retreated back to her mother, the two with the baby in arm quickly fled, and Nix stood there for a second feel a sliver of remorse for screaming at the child, but a third explosion sent Nix to investigate.

The island over here already had Militia fighting someone, Nix couldn't tell who it was, but if they were fighting the Militia, they couldn't be too bad.

She found a few hiding out getting a mortar in position ready to fire, to which she killed quickly.

"Bitches…"

She was about the continue the in-progress rampage when a Militia member flew over head, who ever was here was strong, and she didn't want to see who it was.

She fled from the attacker, who followed in pursuit, using tree's and buildings, and some kind of floating power to follow here, but she was able to get away, but she had no idea who it was that had been following her.

* * *

><p>She returned to her shack of a home. When she returned, she realized she still held the doll, she was about to throw it out when she realized there was a familiarity to it. It matched a doll she once had, a hand made bauble her mother had made for her.<p>

"Mama…" She thought back for a little while.

She decided to hold on to the doll, for a little while, at least.

* * *

><p>She stayed out of town for a few days. After her own attack on the island, as well as an explosion on the mainland, she decided to avoid the place, someone powerful had come to town, and she wasn't sure if meeting them would be a good idea.<p>

She had been listening to the radio, on of the things she enjoyed before and after her change, when a story had quite her attention.

"We bring you a special News Bulletin: Does New Marais see a new threat to public safety? After Empire City's destruction weeks ago, it seems that the "Demon of Empire City," also known as the "Electric Man," Cole MacGrath has been seen in our city. Whether this is a curse or a blessing has yet to be seen, but since his arrival, there have been multiple explosions. More news later."

Nix couldn't believe her ears.

"The Demon...here...?" She thought to herself and realized, it was Cole, he had been in the swamp that day. She kicked herself for not introducing herself when she had the prefect opportunity to the other day. Even though she missed that chance, she was sure she could make another.

* * *

><p>She returned to town that day, she stole a cell phone in case she got the opportunity to meet Cole, she'd have to have some kind of way to keep in touch with him.<p>

She tried several times, she attacked Militia, attacked cops, attacked random people on the street, but always had to run before Cole showed up.

She was sitting back one day trying to figure out how she could meet Cole, an explosion out in town broke her train of thought, when she went to see what happned, she found Militia carting off some woman from a wreckage on the coast, but sadly Cole was no where in site.

Frustrated Nix went back into the swamp.

"Damn it! Where the hell are you Cole?" She screamed. Instead of Cole answering her call, some Militia did, she looted their bodies, and found something of value, a glowing rock.

"Now what would some ugly ass buncha hicks need this rock?" A few more Militia attacked, wanting the stone more then her dead at the moment, they weren't any danger, but a new set of footprints and an electrical bolt fired at her from behind caught Nix's attention.

She dodged it and teleported around them a few times, then pounced, she was about to smash their skull in with a burning punch, when they resisted, and had an electrical current ready to pass through her body.

* * *

><p>Cole POV.<p>

Cole was able to drag himself back to Zeke. A little electricity from the New Marais power grid, and Cole was feeling back to full health, but he was still broke, he failed to protect Kuo and Wolfe.

"Hey Brother." Zeke said without leaving his binoculars.

"Hey Zeke..." He sighed. "I'm really starting to think i'm in way over my head here dude."

"Ah, cheer up, you've done a hellova job so far." He said concentrating on what he is watching.

"Yeah yeah...what are you doing, watching some chick again?

"Nah, not this time, I think I found I Kuo."

Cole wasn't in any position to question Zeke, so he just listened and went into the swamp, after checking a few shacks, he started to lose hope though.

When he went to check out the third shack, he found some militia members dead.

"What the hell...?" The sounds of screams called him deeper into the mist, he had his powers ready when he spotted a figure, and fired a bolt at them, they noticed it and leapt out of the way, than vanished. The person appeared in front of Cole, then to the left of him, then behind him, then to the right of him, and continued that pattern until they jumped on to him, he saw they aimed to kill him, but would fry them too.

"Demon...?" He heard as the person vanished again.

When they stopped, he fired a few bolts at them, and threw a grenade. When the dust cleard he saw they weren't there again.

"Whoa! Whoa! WHOA Cole MacGrath! I ain't your enemy!" He heard a woman cried out.

"Then what are you? Don't seem like your a friend." He called back.

"Ima fan."

Nix appeared before Cole.

"A fan?" He said, unbelieving.

"Damn right, your amazing. I've been trying to find your for so long, but enough of that. How 'bout you and me go have some fun?"

"Tell me your name and I'll think about it."

"Call me Nix."

"Well Nix, as much fun as hanging out with you sounds, i'm kinda looking for someone."

"Damn, too bad..." She crossed her arms, Cole saw she held a Blast Core.

"Where'd you get that?"

"What, this?" She held up the blast core. "Off one of these fools, why, ya want it?"

"Damn right I do." He said reaching for it.

"Ah-ah, help me out a little and it's all yours."

"Oh yeah, because your really a damsel-in-distress kinda woman."

"Ain't about having someone doing it for me. I want ya to be there so it ain't so lonely. Now what do ya say?"

Cole thought about it for a moment and agreed.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Oh, you'll see." She laughed as she teleported away.

"Guess she was the one who helped me out in the swamp before...wish I could teleport..." He mumbled as he tried to catch up with her.

They made their way to Bertrand Square.

"So what are we doing here?" Cole asked his plotting hostess.

"You'll see, but we have to get up top, and be sneaky 'bout it too."

She went up ahead of Cole, when he got up there, he saw what she had planned, canisters of oil were on the roof tops, ready to be rained down of Bertrand's propaganda bill-boards. The two spilt the oil on to the large posters to which Cole lit ablaze. What Cole didn't know is that there were also propane tanks down there, when they went up, everyone in the square was trapped.

Cole jumped down, he didn't care much for helping the Militia, but there were civilians down there too, Nix went down to kill a few of the Militia, she didn't see Cole save a few people.

When all was said and done, Nix willingly gave Cole the core.

"Cole, that was so much fucking fun man! We should do this again!"

Cole couldn't deny that the attack was interesting. "Call me, we have something in common."

Nix teleported away, eager to find new things to destroy with Cole.

"Z," Cole said when he called Zeke. "Just got a Blast Core, and a friend I think."

"Sure that's a good idea?"

"Hey, i'd rather her help us than hurt us."

"If you say so man...and Kuo?"

"No sign of her yet, look i'm heading home, could you be there to watch my back?"

"No problem. Actually I want to show you something."

Cole made his way back to the new Zeke's Roof, but there was an odd lack of Zeke.

"Hey Z, where you at?"

Zeke came out dressed up in a very "Zeke" version of the Militia outfit. "Hands up you lightning-shooting deviant" He exclaimed.

"Hah hah, whatdya think? 'Zeke Dunbar; Double agent'"

Cole looked at him with a confused expression.

"I'm a spy."

"For us, right?" Cole hadn't quite forgotten about what happen with Kessler before in Empire.

"Of course man..." Feeling hurt. "I thought that was water under the bridge..."

"Sorry man...I better not wake up in a Militia cage..." Before Zeke could respond, he sent a current through the core, and let it's power flood into him.


	13. Kuo's Transformation

Kuo's Transformation

Kuo's head was spinning, everything was, what wasn't spinning was hazy.

Kuo slowly started coming to her senses, the air was cold, she felt herself being held in the air by some kind of machine holding her arms and legs.

"Where…?" She started, she blinked a few times and found herself in a large circular room that was very deep under ground.

Surrounding her were men in cases, all of them looked like they were sleeping, they lined the circular room.

"What happened?" She tried to recall, "Cole…the truck….Bertrand." She looked around, looking for the man who was keeping her.

"Where are you, you little worm?" She yelled into the icy darkness.

"Name calling Miss Kuo?" Bertrand walked into the dim light. "I thought a woman as refined as you would never stoop so low."

"Shut up and tell me what I'm doing here."

A man wearing the militia uniform pushes a cart into the illuminated circle.

On it was a file, a needle like dagger, and a machine with a large syringe with a pump that lead into a holding station, but for what?

Bertrand took the file.

"Name: Lucy, Kuo.

Birthplace: A small town in Ohio

Affiliations: First Son's, New Marais Branch. The Nation Security Agency

Confirmed Conduit Gene.

All of this are true, correct Miss Kuo?"

"So what if they are?"

"You know Miss Kuo, Wolfe invented many wonderful inventions in his prolonged time here."

"Get to the point, please."

"Your driving my patience Miss Kuo… You see, you are not the first to be given the chance to be granted your powers."

"Granted? What are these men? Your sacrifices to give me my powers?"

Bertrand could only laugh. "Oh them, you'll find out exactly who they are in due time, but now…" He put the file down and grabbed the large needle. "Let's see if the mad Doctor's 'Sacrifice Free' method of giving powers won't sacrifice you."

Before she could process it, he stabbed the blade deep into the side her lower stomach.

"Agh!"

She tried to lunge at him, to defend herself, but the restraints kept her in check.

"Heh…" He pulled the dagger out of her. "Don't worry my dear, that was only the first one…"

He returned the dagger to it's rightful place on the cart, dripping with Kuo's blood.

"Now let's see what we can do about that blood of yours…" He said and he grabbed the large syringe, and buried it into her wounded stomach, and with a flip of the switch, started pumping out her blood.

"Wh-what are you…doing to me…?" She said, with each word she felt the blood pump out a little faster.

"Well you see, the good Doctor found a way to give people powers without costing a life, first, drain them of their blood…"

"Y-you can't be serious…" Her vision blurred, her blood being pumped out a gallon a minute. "L-let me go…please…" She started crying, she was truly scared, she was going to die.

But Bertrand could only laugh. "Miss Kuo, surely you can't be begging for me to stop Wolfe's greatest project half way through. Why, if I stopped it now, you'd die of blood loss…"

Most of the words didn't make it to Kuo's ears, for the most part, all she could hear was her heart as it started to beat slowly.

"Please…" She coughed out with a little blood and between tears. "Please…" Everything started to fade away into darkness, everything went silent, even Kuo's heart. "Let…me…go…" She said with the last bit of life she had.

Bertrand could only laugh

"Is that it? Dear Kuo already out of blood?"

He removed the pump and replaced it with another, but this one was already filled with a blue glowing liquid.

"-sigh- Let's see if the good Doctor died fulfilling his agreement…" He flipped another switch and the pumping began, but pumping the liquid in.

The liquid started filling Kuo's body, but it didn't flow.

"Damn it…I do not like to be made a fool of…shock her!"

The restraints that kept Kuo's arms locked up emitted an electrical current that passed through her heart, giving it a spark, and it started beating. The liquid start circulating, taking the place of Kuo's blood.

With a painful scream Kuo was thrust back into her captivity.

"LET ME GO!" She screamed, the air burned her flesh, ice started covering her restraints, and ice flowered from within, and broke it apart.

Kuo dropped on to the floor, it burned like molten iron.

"Oh god…it hurts…" She tried to get up, but her body refused to listen to her, on impulse her body tried to position itself in the most ideal and least painful way, but everything hurt like needles ablaze like the sun.

"What did you do to me?" Her tears froze to her face. "You monster…you fucking….monster…" She didn't have the will to continue to insult the monster of a man Bertrand was.

"Aw, so sorry Miss Kuo, but that's the price for knowledge."

Militia members were standing ready.

"Alright Mr. Bertrand, the transfer thing is ready to go.""Good, see to it our friend here is ready for the next procedure."

"Sir!" The man reached down to grab Kuo, but as soon as he laid a finger on her, his body froze solid.

"Oh, looks like I didn't tell him to put on his special handling gear. Oh well." He kicked the body of the Militia member and it shattered, he didn't feel a bit of remorse.

The others said nothing as they wheeled in the device Wolfe had built to transfer powers.

Those with the equipment to handle extreme items, in this case Kuo, picked her up and locked her into the restraints of the transfer device.

"…why won't you let me go…?" She said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You made me conduit…what else do you want…?"

"That my dear was only the first part, now comes the real test…" Bertrand said as her placed a Blast core into the middle of the machine, across from her another device that looked like it was made to connect to other things,

"I…don't understand…" Her mind was trying to make sense of everything going on, trying not to focus on the burning air around her.

"Don't worry, you will." Bertrand said with a dark grin.

He flipped a switch, and to him and ever one else in the room, a beam on energy shot out of the Blast Core and into Kuo, and reflected into the machine across from her.

However that wasn't the case for Kuo. What she saw was much different.

From the blast core, two dark twisted hands slowly crossed the space between her the stone. They came to her, and reached through her flesh, through her organs, into her core, into her soul. They grabbed a part of her, some of her very essence, and ripped it away from her soul. It dragged the essence through her body, until it ripped it away from her being entirely. They took her essence, and gave it to the machine, and from their was ripped to pieces, and flowed into each little package, the men inside their frozen boxes flashed to life, screaming. Their screams and Kuo's blended into a chorus of suffering, wails at the atrocity Bertrand had committed. But they suddenly fell silent. Asleep in their units. Leaving Kuo screaming alone, in the darkness that followed Bertrand.

To Kuo it lasted hours, but in reality it was a few short minutes.

"Take her down, hook her into the main machine in case we need to…extract…a little more, take the device to Fort Philippe for now."

The men followed the orders, Kuo was hung up in the center, like a shining beacon in the dark lab.

She was left there, crying, tears unheard and unseen, snowflakes of sorrow, lost in the darkness of evil.


	14. Breakout

Breakout

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kuo's<strong> POV_

Kuo hung within the dark lab, hidden deep underground, the only thing keeping her strung up were two metallic pillars leeching off her energy to keep the soldiers in cryogenic stasis, she tried to free herself, but the pillars were too strong, and sucked the power as she tried to use it.

"Damn it..." Her eyes red from the tears, or they should have been red.

Instead of her eyes turning red from her tears, without red blood pumping through her veins, she instead took a different color, one matching the color of her new "blood" which was an icy blue.

She looked around around, trying to find anything that might help her, but there was nothing.

"I...I may really die here..."

It was a reality she knew well of from the moment she joined the NSA, but she never truly thought she'd face it. Even when her partner John was lost, she always thought of death as something she would never meet.

"John..."

Memories came back, of when they worked together, back before the Blast.

"Guess we didn't do so hot of a job, eh John?" She couldn't help but laugh at herself, even when the tears started falling again. "Here we were, thinking we could stop this mess, instead we became pawns. You died in Empire...what was it? Eradicated? Either way you're gone and I will be following you shortly myself..."

She thought back on the time they spent together, they hadn't known each other very long, but while in the First Sons they were the only people they could trust.

"I came...all they back with Cole...Cole!" She had completely forgotten about the hero.

"I...I may get out of this alive yet...but so what if I do...? I'm a conduit...worse yet I'm a conduit who is being used like a battery...what could he be trying to do...?"

Even in such a dire state, Kuo's agent mindset forced her to look for a reason, a way, anything to help her.

"Seems they bounce back rather fast." The cold voice of the monster holding Kuo captive.

"Bertrand..." Even without blood, they sound of his voice made whatever flowed through her boil, even if it was energy, or even ice.

"Glad to see you're done whimpering like a child, hardly respectable for a woman of your stature."

"Let me go and I'll show what this woman can do, we'll see how much it takes to make you whimper."

"Now, now, all I came down here is for a little for power." With a smirk he pulled out a little switch, Kuo's was suddenly filled again with absolute terror.

"Y-you don't have to do that...really..."

"Oh I do, and I need a lot more then before..." His smirk became a smile of evil, with the flip of the switch, to Kuo, agony was an understatement, and death was welcomed.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Cole's POV<em>**

It was around noon when Cole woke up, he felt the same as before, but at the same time completely different. He felt powerful

"Hey Brother, 'bout time you woke up."

"Hey man, what'd I miss?"

"Ah, not much, a few beers, 2 bags of chips, re-runs, oh, there are a bunch of militia street level shootin up the park, I would of handled it, but then I thought 'Well if Cole wakes up, maybe he'd wanna kick a little ass, see if he got anything good from the blast core'"

Cole chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, Zeke the hero could of handled a few militia with his eyes closed."

"Damn straight, and don't forget it."

"Yeah, yeah, guess i'll go handle the 'leftovers.'"

He jumped from the roof, shooting a few guys on the way down, and finished off the others with the Amp. However when one of them went down, he dropped some kind of energy, it was glowing purple.

"He man," Called Zeke on the phone. "What's that guy got on him? I can see it from here."

"I don't know, looks interesting though, i'll check it out." He advanced on the mysterious energy, he reached for it and it shot into him and was gone, he felt a surge of power.

"The hell was that Cole?"

"I don't know...but I wanna try something." he swung his arms and in a wave of energy, an electrical tornado of energy smashed it way from Cole's hands and down the street.

"Holy shit! Did you see that Z?"

"Damn, that was cool, you need more of whatever that guy had."

"I'll say, hey, I'm coming back up."

"Good thing Brother, your swamp 'friend' just stopped by...or...apparently she left- oh wait...wait...nah she's back. And gone...and back again...interesting friend..."

Cole hurried up and found Nix and Zeke waiting for him.

"Hey Baby" purred Nix when Cole joined them, "I missed you, came to give you a little help, doubt ya need any though."

"Actually," cut in Zeke. "We could use all the help we can get. I found Kuo."

"Good work Z. What are we looking at?"

"An old sugar cane plantation, Bertrand supposedly keeps all of his major uh...deviants...locked up there."

"The one with the street car in front?" Asked Nix

"That's the one."

"Ahhh, I know which one ya mean. What's more, I got me an idea."

"Let's hear it swamp sister." Zeke wasn't sure what she was getting at, but it didn't hurt to hear.

"We fill it bombs, fireworks, gasoline, the whole nine yards, packed with explosives, get it going real fast, and smash through the gates, set the place on fire." She didn't even try to hide the joy in her voice, she desperately wanted to set the place ablaze, but had no means to get the full scale of destruction she wanted.

"Fire would make a great diversion." Pointed out Cole.

"Yeah, and all those other people locked in cages get to go up with it, c'mon brother, you don't want to leave those innocent people to burn, do you?"

"Of course not, but what other options are there?"

Nix was getting impatient. "We gotta plan, c'mon!"

"Hold up, I know of a different way. Bertrand is real proud of his power over the cops, so proud he marches them around the city in cages."

"We free them, give 'em guns?"

"Hey, might make you look good too."

"Free cops? Naw, that's a bad idea, you free 'em, they'll turn on ya, knock you down the first chance they get. You freeing cop? I ain't gonna help ya."

With that Nix left, teleported to where she would get her plan ready.

"The choice is yours brother..." Zeke left the map of where to strike on the table, he didn't want to see if he chose Nix's plan, so he left the roof.

"-sigh- Great..."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Nix's POV<em>**

She had the better plan, she knew it.

"Cole knows it too... He wouldn't want to help a buncha dumbass cops...they'd just shoot him in the back as fast as giving him a donut..."

She knew Cole, or thought she did. From the reports from Empire City on the news, Cole had to be a "Take no shit, take what I want, do as I please" kind of guy.

"Nah, he'll be here..."

She set to work, collecting explosives and getting the car ready.

"Hurry up Cole..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cole's POV<strong>_

He had two choices.

Go in with Nix and set the plantation on fire. He'd have a great partner and a great distraction. But the fire would kill many innocent people.

On the other hand, he could save the police, give them weapons, and lead them in the charge against the Militia. But Nix raised a good point, Cole and the police haven't always seen eye to eye, there is a chance they'd back stab him.

"-SIGH- I miss the times when my biggest decision was pizza toppings..."

He ran to across rooftops, weighing the decisions. He stood halfway between the location to meet Nix and where the police would be.

"I choose..." He made his decision and started running, when he reached his destination, the convoy humiliating the police had started on it's route.

* * *

><p>"Good people of New Marais, look at these men, these fools, who thoughet they could protect you. I offered my help to them, and they denied. Look at the men who thought they could stop those monsters from attacking our fair town. The men who let Cole MacGrath, the Demon of Empire City run free. The men who thought they could protect you and your loved ones from the monsters infesting our swamps. Look at them. They can't do anything but take up space in cages. Look at these uncoordinated, overconfident drunks, and compare them to my Militia. Who really keeps you safe? Who really protects our fair city? Not the police."<p>

"If I have to listen to this any longer, I swear i'll ram that street car down Bertrand's throat."

Cole took a spot on the roof and watches as the convoy marched down the street.

"Let's see...a vortex would probably take most if not all of them out at once...but how many civilians would be blown away too?"

Sadly, a lot of the citizens were in trapped in Bertrand's lies, a good portion of the city came to these public humiliations.

"No, it would hurt too many people...alright, guess I get to do this the old fashioned way."

He jumped down and threw a grenade to the leader of the pack, and blasted a few bolts for good measure, the driver abandoned car when he saw the grenade, the rest of the convoy swerved and crashed.

"You guys are really bad drivers." Cole laughed as he jumped down.

"The Electric Man!"

"Shoot him! Shoot him!"

"Throw rubber chickens at 'im!"

"The things people say here..."

Before the trigger happy hunters could continue their various battle cries, Cole threw a few more grenades and bolts at them, they tried dodging, but a smash from Cole's amp took them out.

"Stupid...lightning...fork...thing...!"

The last of the guards lay in the streets, moaning and groaning over the electrical blasts that knocked them down a few moments ago.

"Well if no one is gonna stop me, I reckon i'll free myself some coppers." Mimicking the hunters, Cole set to work on freeing the police, and after a few minutes, Bertrand's trophies were loose.

"Thank you so much."

"You're not so bad for a demon!"

"Freedom!"

The police praised Cole for helping them.

"How can we help?"

"Right, I didn't free you all for a coffee break. I need you all to grab a gun and follow me, we're going to pay our old friend Bertrand a visit, and attack one of his compounds."

There was a roar of approval, he had the whole force on his side.

"Let's raise so hell!"

"Let's give Bertrand some pay back!"

"Let's lock him in a cage!"

"These people really enjoy yelling things..." with a sigh, Cole lead the troop to the plantation gates, but after his little stunt, Bertrand quickly amassed an army to protect his "investments."

* * *

><p>The police may not have totally trusted Cole, but considering he saved him, and was going to help them attack something valuable to Bertrand, they weren't going to argue with him.<p>

The plantation was all set up as a battlefield before Cole and his army of police officers were even there, Bertrand made it clear he would not tolerate any failure. If Cole even got close to the shed where Kuo was being held, he'd personally feed them to the swamp monster they had been sending sacrifices to in Ascension Parish.

"Alright men, we got us a mission from Bertrand, we don't let as much as a snake slither near that shed. We got to keep that no good, demon yankee and his goon army far away, blow him to pieces. Now it's their asses or ours! let's roast them!" The self proclaimed first in command of the force guarding Kuo yelled.

A roar of insults, annoyance, and plain drunken nonsense flooded the grounds, but in the next minute, roars turned to cries, the battle began.

Cole's mission wasn't to take out as many Militia members as he could, he had to get Kuo, and get out.

Knocking a few heads together wouldn't hurt though.

The aged plantation had been turned from a serene artwork of time, into a zoo of Bertrand's freaks, and now into a battlefield.

In the first minutes alone, bullets filled the air, and bodies crowded the ground.

This blood bath would last for a while yet as the Militia had no end of people, some of them didn't even have guns, somewhere just throwing beer bottles and rocks.

"Almost feel bad most of this guys won't make it." Cole thought aloud, as he did though a rocket nailed him in the chest, sending him soaring into a near by tree.

"Okay..." He grunted. "Not feeling so bad anymore."

Without thinking about his own forces, Cole sent a vortex flying, the police were smart enough to hit the ground, most of the militia weren't as smart and ended up being blown half a mile away.

"Alright, that might of been over kill...But hey, they deserved it."

The fighting continued directly after the vortex faded away. Cole went to work on freeing any poor civilians locked up in the mad house.

His phone rang in the midst of battle.

"Hey Nix, missing one hell of a fight."

"Look around Cole, you're doing more harm then good here, all those men gonna die cause you had to get all noble on me."

"Have some faith Nix."

"Whatever, just remember Demon, you were wrong about this, you made a bad choice."

She hung up.

"-sigh- Women here sure can be thick headed..."

Once they were freed Cole finally was ready to get Kuo.

"Hope I haven't kept you waiting..." He overpowered the locks and opened the shed, and descended into the frozen darkness.

When he reached the bottom he was surprised to not find any guards, he ran to the railing of this large room, and in the middle found his friend.

Locked up, hanging by two machines, like some kind of trophy.

"God...Kuo!"

He jumped over the railing and hit the ground running.

"M...MacGrath..." She stammered out, the words frozen in her mouth.

"Don't worry Kuo, I've got you." Blasting the machine with a few volts released her, he caught her but her body was freezing.

"You okay?"

"Talk...later...go now..."

"Yeah...right...understood."

He carried her up to the elevator and out into the daylight.

He put her down when the reached the top.

"We're almost there Kuo, just a little further."

"Alright...god...it burns..." She stumbled her way towards the quickest way out.

Unfortunately for her and Cole, the fighting between police and militia had ended, and in the Militia's favor.

"Ice Queen's loose! Get her!" one Militia yelled

"...fuck..." She continued towards the gate.

"Don't worry Kuo, i'll handle these guys, keep going." Cole said as he drew the attention of the hunters.

Kuo moved...slower then a turtle in syrup, which Cole noticed after blasting his tenth militia member.

"I realize you've been through some tough things but could you maybe hurry it up?"

"Shut..u-AGH" She fell to her knees, keeling over in pain.

"Kuo? Kuo!" Before Cole could run to her, a man dressed like a robot jumped in front of him.

"Hey man, get out of here!" The man seemed to listen, and left.

But not how Cole imagined.

The man was propelled into the air by a small pillar of ice.

"What the...?" Cole began, but before he could finish more and more of the robotic men appeared, and jumped away on spikes of ice.

When they were gone, Kuo got her burst of speed, she got to her feet and ran to the gate, just as Zeke pulled up.

"Move your ass girl!" He called shooting at the remaining militia.

"Don't start with me!" She yelled as she got in the bed.

"Ya look like hell sister."

"Feel like it too, Cole!" she screamed, tired of this cursed estate.

He didn't waste any time and jumped into the bed and Zeke got them out of there.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Nix's POV<strong>_

_**(Before the attack)**_

"C'mon man...Baby hurry up..."

Nix grew impatient, she had the street car ready to go, but no one to juice it enough to ram it into the estate.

"Cole..." She couldn't help but wonder and worry.

She called him on her stolen phone.

"You're not really thinkin of settin those cops free are you baby? You can't trust them."

"Nix, i'm sorry, but i'm not going to risk hurting those people."

"Cole! We don't need them! If they stupid enough to be in our way then who cares if they die?"

"I'm sorry Nix, no." With that he hung up.

She couldn't believe what he just...betrayed her.

"Damn it!" She refused to cry, but this betrayal brought tears to her eyes.

"Just...a bad choice...even the best a us make a bad choice or two...he'll see..."

She looked at the car filled with explosives.

"Seems like a waste to just leave this here..."

She set to work to get the explosives ready for a different plan she had been hatching.

_**(After the attack)**_

Nix looked around what remained of the battlefield.

"Damn...wish I coulda had one kill from this..."

She walked around hoping to find some unfortunate fool to kill.

She looks at the shed that obviously had been abandoned.

"Hope you got what you wanted Baby..."

She set the bodies littering the ground ablaze and left the plantation to burn.

* * *

><p>(Author Note)<p>

This chapter had originally been planned to be one, as it is now, but after a little computing issue I lost the progress I had on the second part, so you got the first part. You get the rest now, yay.

On another note however, i'm debating on including a little Festival of Blood arc, expanding on Zeke's story & giving us a view of what (may?) of happened to Kuo and Nix during Pyre night, i'd like to hear thoughts of anyone who has actually read and enjoyed this story so far. Skip it or include it? I'd really like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks and as always, inFAMOUS 2 and it's characters belongs to Sucker Punch.


	15. Kuo's Dream

Kuo's Dream

* * *

><p>She sat on the bed of the truck, feeling every bump and leach, each painful and magnified hundreds of times to her sensitive body. She wrapped her arms around her legs, effectively curling up into a ball of suffering, yet she had no more tears to shed, only pain.<p>

The drive back to Zeke's roof was filled with explosions of a few Militia members trying to retake Kuo, and Zeke congratulation Cole for rescuing her. But Kuo heard none of it. She heard only silence. Flashes of fire were visible, but Kuo saw nothing. Her eyes only saw the same moment pass over and over. Her life ending, and starting anew.

When they finally lost the Militia and returned home, night had fallen, Kuo refused to move, she only laid there, unresponsive. Cole carried her to the roof, and they decided to give her sleeping pills, which fortunately did the trick.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Cole asked, watching his friend lay, no idea if she's if she'll live.

"I dunno man…crazy shit happened down there…" Zeke answered.

Cole couldn't bear watching another of his close friends dying before him, it was like an exact repeat of what happened to Trish. Without a word he left the roof, he needed fresh air.

* * *

><p>As if watching a video on repeat, Kuo saw from a view neither her own nor Bertrand's, she saw every moment of the events that happened. From the moment Bertrand stabbed her, all the way to Cole rescuing her. She felt everything, every movement, every burn, every little twitch, all of it, reliving the horrors.<p>

After reliving the pain a few hundred times, she woke up in the room, but this time she stood before Cole, who was now locked in the machine she was hed captive in, and it was she who held the syringe that was used to remove blood.

"Well Kuo? Are you going to stand there or are we going to get on with it?" he asked.

Kuo was shocked to hear him say that, the syringe fell from her hands. "Cole...I don't...No...I'd never..." She couldn't understand what was going on.

"You could never what?" He asked.

"I could never...well never hurt you..." She stammered, her heart beating faster and faster.

He only laughed. "Oh...'never hurt me' is it? That's a ton of shit and we both know it Kuo, you tried to use your body to bring me here."

Kuo blinked, unsure if she should feel more surprised or guilty right now. "H-How did you...?"

"And do you know what's worse?" He continued. "You tried to do at Trish's grave. You showed up, to my girlfriend's grave, to the place where I lost the woman I loved, where she laid buried, and dead, dressed like a **SLUT!"** He yelled, suddenly free of his bindings.

Kuo tried to retreat, but her legs wouldn't listen, and instead she fell back on her rear end. "N-no...I...I..." Tears began to fall like snow.

"But when it comes right down to it, it's your fault she's dead, isn't it. Isn't it! If you had done your job right, she'd be alive, and i'd be happy!" Cole slowly advanced on her, retrieving his Amp. "But because of you, I'm here, the Beast is coming, Trish is dead, Dr. Wolfe is dead, and it's all because of you!"

He brought the Amp down on Kuo, with a flinch the vision of Cole vanished, and she was alone in the dark room, crying again.

"Cole...I'm so sorry..." She let out between tears, when a new voice entered the room.

"Never though i'd see you in tears, partner." A familiar voice said.

"J-John...?" She asked, turning to see her former partner walk into the light. "N-no..you're...dead..." she stammered.

"A lot of that going around apparently Lucy." He retorted. "How many are dead because you failed? I'm one of them, Miss Dailey is another, add Wolfe to the list too, and how many countless others?"

"John, those weren't my fault!" She screamed.

John twisted and turned, changing into Wolfe before her eyes.

"Then whose fault is it Miss Kuo? Mine? Bertrand's? Kessler's?" Wolfe asked.

"Yes! ...no...I...I don't know!" She grabbed the dropped syringe and threw it at the apparition of her now deceased friends.

"I just...don't know..." She cried, unable to tell whether this was truly dream or a living nightmare.

"You miserable thing..." A new voice, one unknown to Kuo said.

She turned and saw a woman. She had short dark hair, wearing a long sleeved shirt with the one of the sleeves pushed up, an armband with a medical symbol, a jacket tied around her waist, a pack filled to the brim, and jeans. She looked somewhat like a ragged nurse.

Yet Kuo recognized this woman from somewhere.

"You...who are you...?"

The woman scoffed. "You mock me at my grave and don't even know who I am, woman like you are disgusting."

Kuo stared, realizing this woman was Trish Dailey.

"You...you can't be real..." She quietly breathed.

"Why?" Trish asked. "Because Cole loves me and not you?"

"No...that's not..."

"Not what? Please, a blind man can see you have feelings for him. Yet you can't take it that he'll always love me, and you'll always be a nobody to him." She laughed.

The tears grew more and more filled with anger for this woman she never met.

"You're the cause of all the problems in the world. You're not human. You're not even a conduit. You're worse then all the scum in all of Empire City!"

Trish walked towards Kuo, still on the ground. "You know Miss Kuo...the world would be better without you..." She brandished the syringe that removed Kuo's blood. "You really should just die!"

Kuo couldn't react before Trish was on top of her, threatening to end her life, the syringe inches from Kuo's throat.

Kuo's mind was a chaotic maelstrom of emotions, those real and those imaginary, and in the struggle with Trish, it didn't help Kuo at all.

But one emotion, one thought stuck out above the rest.

Cole was a caring, heroic individual. Attacking her, calling her a slut, those were things he would never of done. The woman before her couldn't possibly be the real Trish Dailey, Cole could never love a woman whom try to kill someone.

"No...you're wrong...I am not the cause of everything...I should not die!" She said, fighting back. "I deserve to live! I will live!" She pushed the fake Trish off, the fake retreated from Kuo's reach quickly after being pushed away, and ran.

Kuo wouldn't allow this horrible copy run through her mind and cloud her judgement. She chased the doppelganger through her mind, being insulted by friend and foe alike, seeing memories of her life, now twisted and vile, until they reached the outermost area of Kuo's mind.

"There's no where left to run!" Kuo said, and embracing the 'gift' she was given, used one of her powers. She took the form of icy vapor, and enveloped the wicked spirit.

The woman who pretended to be Trish laughed as her body was consumed by ice. "You may try to fight back...but we both know the truth...you're a conduit...a freak...you always were...you always will be...now everyone will know it...they'll know what kind of monster you are..." She spoke her last, before the ice shattered, and the spirit was no more.

* * *

><p>Kuo's eyes slowly opened, greeted by darkness and the light of the neon signs that were found all over New Marais. She could hear Zeke pouring over the plans, mumbling possibilities and flaws to himself. She sat up, finally able to move without being stabbed by needles of burning iron. She felt the same as before, yet different from how she was.<p>

Zeke took notice of her presence. "Kuo? Well...uh...it's good to see you up and adam... but you need to rest...you've been through a lot..."

"Zeke...i'm fine..." She said, standing up, feeling only a slight pain while getting up. "Where's Cole?"

"He's off returning power to Ascension Perish, but you need to rest-" Energy returning to the area where Cole was supposedly told Kuo he was still there.

"Hey Zeke, do me a favor...tell Cole to meet me at the graveyard." She didn't let Zeke say another word, as she ran, ran right off the roof and gave into her powers in the real world, her body becoming vapor, vapor she could control.

"_Alright...this is pretty cool..." _she thought, as she made her disassembled body move to the graveyard. "_I hope I know how to reform..."_

* * *

><p>Author Note<p>

((Well well, I apologies for a sudden hiatus, but please, expect a few more chapters before another. I'd like to once again note inFAMOUS belongs to Sucker Punch and that I do not in any way own characters/place/everything else. I'd also like to ask again about the Festival of Blood arc...I have one vote for yes, but i'd like others, either reviews or PM perhaps? Oh well, thanks for reading.))


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